The story has already told how the Eight Vajra Guardians carried the Tang monk back toward his own land; of that we shall say no more.
At the foot of the triple gate [of the Thunderclap Monastery], the Guardians of the Five Quarters, the Duty Officers of the Four Seasons, the Six Dings and Six Jias, and the Protectors of the Faith came before the Bodhisattva Guanyin and reported: "By the Bodhisattva's holy decree, your disciples have watched over the sage monk in secret all these years. Today his journey is complete, and the Bodhisattva has discharged the golden decree of the Buddha; we beg that the Bodhisattva will likewise permit us to discharge our own decree."
The Bodhisattva was greatly pleased: "Granted, granted." She asked again: "And how did the four of them—the Tang monk and his disciples—conduct themselves in heart and deed along the road?" The gods replied: "Truly devout and single-hearted were they; this cannot escape the Bodhisattva's far-seeing discernment. But as for the sufferings the Tang monk has endured, they are beyond all telling. The calamities and ordeals he passed through on the road, your disciples have recorded here to the last; this is the register of his tribulations." The Bodhisattva read it through from the beginning. It read:
"By the decree that sent your Guardians, reverently recording, The count of the Tang monk's tribulations, each one set clear: Golden Cicada cast down—the first tribulation; Nearly slain on leaving the womb—the second; Cast into the river at the full month—the third; Seeking kin and avenging wrong—the fourth; Meeting a tiger outside the city—the fifth; Falling in a pit, losing a follower—the sixth; On Double Fork Ridge—the seventh; On the Two-Borders Mountain—the eighth; Changing the horse at the steep ravine—the ninth; Burned by fire in the night—the tenth; The loss of the cassock—the eleventh; Subduing and winning Bajie—the twelfth; The Yellow Wind Monster's blockade—the thirteenth; Begging help of Lingji—the fourteenth; The Flowing Sands River hard to cross—the fifteenth; Winning over the Sha Monk—the sixteenth; The Four Sages manifesting—the seventeenth; In Wuzhuang Temple—the eighteenth; The ginseng fruit hard to revive—the nineteenth; The Heart Monkey dismissed in disgrace—the twentieth; Losing one another in the Black Pine Forest—the twenty-first; Bearing the letter to the Kingdom of Baoxiang—the twenty-second; Turned into a tiger in the Golden Chime Hall—the twenty-third; Meeting demons on Flat-Top Mountain—the twenty-fourth; Hung aloft in Lotus Cave—the twenty-fifth; Saving the sovereign of the Black Rooster Kingdom—the twenty-sixth; Impersonated by the demon—the twenty-seventh; Meeting a monster on Hao Mountain—the twenty-eighth; The holy monk snatched away by the wind—the twenty-ninth; The Heart Monkey done to harm—the thirtieth; Begging the sages to subdue the demon—the thirty-first; Sunk beneath the Black River—the thirty-second; Hauling loads in the Kingdom of Chechi—the thirty-third; The great wager of victory and defeat—the thirty-fourth; Driving out the Daoists, exalting the monks—the thirty-fifth; Meeting great waters upon the road—the thirty-sixth; Falling into the Heaven-Reaching River—the thirty-seventh; The fish-basket reveals her form—the thirty-eighth; Meeting a monster at Gold Mountain—the thirty-ninth; All the gods of Heaven hard put to quell him—the fortieth; Asking the Buddha the root and origin—the forty-first; Poisoned by the water he drank—the forty-second; Detained for marriage in the Kingdom of Western Liang—the forty-third; Suffering in the Lute Cave—the forty-fourth; The Heart Monkey banished once more—the forty-fifth; The macaque hard to distinguish—the forty-sixth; The road barred by the Flaming Mountain—the forty-seventh; Seeking the plantain fan—the forty-eighth; Seizing and binding the Demon King—the forty-ninth; Sweeping the pagoda at the city of Jisai—the fiftieth; Fetching the treasure to save the monks—the fifty-first; Chanting verse in the thorny grove—the fifty-second; Meeting disaster at the Lesser Thunderclap—the fifty-third; All the gods of Heaven held captive—the fifty-fourth; Blocked by the filth of the persimmon tunnel—the fifty-fifth; Practicing medicine in the Kingdom of Zhuzi—the fifty-sixth; Saving the worn and ailing—the fifty-seventh; Subduing the demon, restoring the queen—the fifty-eighth; Beguiled and lost among the Seven Passions—the fifty-ninth; Wounded by the Hundred-Eyed—the sixtieth; The road blocked at Lion Camel—the sixty-first; The monsters in their three colors—the sixty-second; Disaster in the city—the sixty-third; Begging the Buddha to take the demon—the sixty-fourth; Saving the child in the Kingdom of Bhikshu—the sixty-fifth; Distinguishing the true from the false—the sixty-sixth; Rescuing the monster in the pine forest—the sixty-seventh; Lying sick in the monks' lodgings—the sixty-eighth; Trapped in the Bottomless Cave—the sixty-ninth; Hard going in the Dharma-Destroying Kingdom—the seventieth; Meeting a demon on Hidden Mist Mountain—the seventy-first; Praying for rain in Fengxian County—the seventy-second; The weapons lost and gone—the seventy-third; The feast that honored the rake—the seventy-fourth; The ordeal on Bamboo Joint Mountain—the seventy-fifth; Suffering in the Cave of Dark Splendor—the seventy-sixth; Chasing and catching the rhinoceros—the seventy-seventh; The marriage sought in Tianzhu—the seventy-eighth; Imprisoned in the Prefecture of Tongtai—the seventy-ninth; Casting off the shell at the Cloud-Piercing Ferry—the eightieth. The road they went, a hundred and eight thousand li; The register of the sage monk's tribulations, plainly set down."
When the Bodhisattva had run her eye over the register of tribulations, she said hastily: "In the school of the Buddha, it is nine times nine that brings the return to truth. The sage monk has endured but eighty tribulations—one is still wanting, and the number cannot be completed."
She at once commanded a Guardian: "Overtake the Vajra Guardians, and bring about one more tribulation for them." Receiving the command, the Guardian mounted the flying clouds and sped eastward.
In a day and a night he caught up with the Eight Vajra Guardians, and, whispering close to their ears, said: "Thus and thus and thus. Reverently obey the Bodhisattva's decree; you must not fail or disobey."
Hearing this, the Eight Vajra Guardians at once pressed down the wind and let the four travelers—horses, scriptures, and all—drop down to the ground. Ah! It was exactly this:
Nine nines return to truth, but the Way is hard to tread; Firm must the will be kept, standing fast at the Mystic Gate. Only by bitter trial are the evil demons driven off; Only by cultivation of the right dharma does one return. Do not think the scriptures' rolls were easily won— Many were the ordeals the sage monk could not pass. Since of old, wondrously they accord with the Harmony of the Three; A hair's-breadth of error, and the elixir never forms.
[Translator's note: "the Harmony of the Three" renders the title of the Can Tong Qi (the Scripture of the Kinship of the Three), a classic Daoist alchemical text.]
The moment his feet touched the mortal earth, Sanzang felt his heart leap within him. Bajie burst out laughing: "Good! Good! Good! This is what they mean by hurrying to be quick and ending up late." The Sha Monk said: "Good! Good! Good! It's because we went a bit too fast that they've set us down here to rest a while."
The Great Sage said: "As the proverb has it, sit ten days by the shoals, and in one day you can pass nine of them."
Sanzang said: "You three, stop your bickering for a moment. Take your bearings and see what place this is." The Sha Monk turned his head and looked all about: "It's this place! It's this place! Master, listen to the sound of the water." The Pilgrim said: "The sound of water—that must be your ancestral home." Bajie said: "His ancestral home is the Flowing Sands River." The Sha Monk said: "No, no—this is the Heaven-Reaching River." Sanzang said: "Disciple, look carefully and see which bank we are on." The Pilgrim sprang up into the air, shaded his eyes with one hand, and looked carefully. Then he came down and said: "Master, this is the western bank of the Heaven-Reaching River."
Sanzang said: "Now I remember—on the eastern bank there is the Village of Chen. When we came here that year, thanks to your rescuing their children, they were deeply grateful and would have built a boat to send us across; but luckily the white turtle ferried us over instead. I remember that on this western bank there is no trace of human habitation for miles around. What are we to do now?"
Bajie said: "I thought only mortal folk knew how to cheat, but it seems even these Vajras before the Buddha's very face have learned the trick. They received the Buddha's decree to send us back east—how can they drop us in the middle of the road like this? Now we are caught fast, unable to advance or retreat! How are we ever to cross?"
The Sha Monk said: "Second Brother, hold your grumbling. Our master has already attained the Way; at the Cloud-Piercing Ferry he cast off his mortal frame, and this time he certainly will not sink. Let elder brother and you and I all put forth our magic of transport and carry the master across."
The Pilgrim snickered to himself again and again: "It can't be done! It can't be done!" Now why did he say it could not be done? If he had been willing to put forth his magic powers and reveal the mystery of soaring aloft, master and disciples could have crossed a thousand such rivers. But he knew very well in his heart that the number of nine nines for the Tang monk was not yet complete—that one more tribulation was still owing. And so he let them linger there.
Thus talking among themselves, master and disciples walked slowly on until they came to the water's edge, where suddenly they heard someone call: "Sage Monk of Tang! Sage Monk of Tang! Come this way! Come this way!" The four travelers were all startled. They looked up, but there was no trace of any human being, nor any boat to be seen—only a great white-shelled, scab-headed turtle poking its head up from the bank and calling: "Reverend Master, I have been waiting for you all these years—so you have come back at last?"
The Pilgrim laughed: "Old turtle, we put you to trouble in years past, and now this year we meet again." Sanzang, Bajie, and the Sha Monk were all delighted beyond measure.
The Pilgrim said: "Old turtle, if you truly have a mind to receive us, come up onto the bank." The turtle at once sprang up and climbed out of the river. The Pilgrim bade them lead the horse up onto its back. Bajie crouched behind the horse's tail, Tang Sanzang stood to the left of the horse's neck, the Sha Monk stood on the right, while the Pilgrim set one foot on the old turtle's neck and the other on its head, crying: "Old turtle, mind you walk steady now."
The old turtle kicked out its four legs and trod the surface of the water as if it were level ground, bearing the four of them—master and disciples—together with the horse, five living creatures in all, straight across toward the eastern bank. Truly it was as they say:
Within the gate of non-duality the dharma is deep and dark; All demons fought and driven off, one knows both Heaven and man. Now at last is seen the original face; Now at last the one body's cause is made whole. Witness of the Three Vehicles, one may come and go at will; The elixir turned nine times, one may wander where one pleases. Of packs on the back and flying staves, speak no more— How fortunate, returning to the source, to meet the old turtle!
The old turtle carried them, treading the waves and breasting the swells, for the better part of a day. As evening was drawing on, when they were close to the eastern bank, it suddenly asked: "Reverend Master, in former years I begged you, when you reached the Western Heaven and saw the Buddha, the Tathagata, to ask on my behalf about the matter of my final destiny, and how many years of life remained to me. Did you, in truth, ask?"
Now it happened that the elder, from the time he reached the Western Heaven—bathing in the Abbey of Jade Truth, casting off his mortal frame at the Cloud-Piercing Ferry, and walking up the Spirit Mountain, where his heart was wholly set on worshiping the Buddha and paying reverence to all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and holy sages—had thought of nothing but the quest for the scriptures and had paid not the least heed to any other thing. That was why he had never asked about the old turtle's span of years. He had no answer to give, yet he dared not deceive it with a lie. He fell silent for a long while and made no reply.
The old turtle knew at once that his question had not been asked. With a shake of its body it plunged into the water with a great splash, tumbling the four travelers, horse, and scriptures all into the river. Ah! It was well that the Tang monk had cast off his mortal shell and attained the Way; had it been as before, he would have gone straight to the bottom. And it was well too that the white horse was a dragon, and that Bajie and the Sha Monk could swim. The Pilgrim, smiling broadly, displayed his great magic powers and helped the Tang monk up out of the water and onto the eastern bank. It was only the bundles of scriptures, the clothes, and the saddle and bridle that were all soaked through.
No sooner had master and disciples climbed ashore and begun to put themselves to rights than there suddenly blew up a wild wind. The sky darkened, thunder and mist broke out together, rocks flew and sand drove. Then they saw:
A blast of wind—Heaven and Earth were rocked and shaken; A peal of thunder—the mountains and rivers trembled. A flash of lightning—it bored through the clouds with flying fire; A fog-covered sky—the whole earth was shrouded. The wind roared and howled; the thunder crashed and cracked. The lightning drew red silk across the sky; the fog veiled stars and moon. The wind drove dust and sand into their faces; the thunder startled tiger and leopard into hiding; the lightning's flicker set the birds shrieking; the fog's thick pall wiped out the very trees. The wind churned the Heaven-Reaching River into surging waves; the thunder made the fish and dragons of the Heaven-Reaching River lose their courage; the lightning lit the Heaven-Reaching River through to its very bottom; the fog covered the Heaven-Reaching River's banks in murky gloom. A fine wind! It toppled mountains, shattered rocks, felled pines and bamboo. A fine thunder! Its awakening roar could wound a man; its might was overbearing. A fine lightning! Flowing across the sky, lighting the wilds, the golden serpent ran. A fine fog! Vast and confused, it blanketed the sky and hid the nine heavens.
So frightened was Sanzang that he clutched fast his bundle of scriptures; the Sha Monk pressed down the pole of scripture-loads; Bajie held fast the white horse; and the Pilgrim, swinging his iron cudgel in both hands, guarded them on either side. It turned out that the wind, the fog, the thunder, and the lightning were the war-cries of certain yin demons, who meant to snatch away the scriptures they had obtained. The turmoil lasted the whole night long, and only when morning came did it cease.
The elder, soaked to the skin, asked tremblingly: "Wukong, what is the meaning of this?"
The Pilgrim said in a huff: "Master, you do not know the whole of it. These scriptures we have won by escorting you are the achievement of seizing the secret workings of Heaven and Earth. They may endure as long as Heaven and Earth, shine as brightly as sun and moon, grant long life and eternal spring, and make the dharma body imperishable. It is for this very reason that Heaven and Earth cannot abide them and the ghosts and spirits envy them, and they came to steal them away by stealth. In the first place, the scriptures had been drenched through with water; in the second, your true dharma body pressed them down, so thunder could not blast them, lightning could not illumine them, fog could not befuddle them; and old Sun, whirling his iron cudgel, kept guard over them with the very nature of pure yang. And when dawn came, the force of yang waxed strong once more—and so they could not be carried off after all."
Only then did Sanzang, Bajie, and the Sha Monk understand, and each thanked the Pilgrim without end.
After a little while the sun shone high. They moved the scriptures onto a high cliff and opened the bundles to dry them in the sun; to this day the scripture-drying rock of that place still remains. They also spread their clothes and shoes along the cliffside to dry, some standing, some sitting, some leaping about. Truly it was:
A body of pure yang rejoices in the sun, And yin demons dare not play the tyrant. Know that the waters have prevailed—the true scriptures lie still; They fear not wind, nor thunder, nor lightning's glare, nor fog. From this day forth all is calm, and they return to right awakening; From this time on, safe and at ease, they reach the immortal land. On the scripture-drying rock their traces remain; Through a thousand ages, no demon has come to this place.
As the four of them were checking the scripture volumes and spreading them out one by one, a few fishermen came by along the riverside. Looking up and catching sight of them, one who recognized them said: "Reverend Masters, are you not the ones who crossed this river two years ago on your way to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures?"
Bajie said: "That's right, that's right. Where are you from? How is it you recognize us?" The fisherman said: "We are men of the Village of Chen." Bajie said: "How far is the Village of Chen from here?" The fisherman said: "Cross this ford and go south twenty li, and there it is."
Bajie said: "Master, let's carry the scriptures to the Village of Chen to dry. They have lodging there, and food to eat, and we can have the household starch our clothes for us—wouldn't that be better?" Sanzang said: "Let us not go. Once they are dry here, we shall pack up and find the road home."
The fishermen crossed the southern ford and happened to meet Chen Cheng. They called out: "Second Elder Master, the masters who took the place of your son in the sacrifice two years ago have come back!" Chen Cheng said: "Where did you see them?" The fishermen pointed back: "They're all up there on the rock, drying their scriptures."
Chen Cheng at once took a few tenant farmers with him and crossed the ford. When he saw them, he ran up close, knelt, and said: "Your lordships have returned with the scriptures, your merit accomplished and your journey fulfilled—why have you not come to my humble house, but are fussing about here? Do come, I pray, do come to my home." The Pilgrim said: "When the scriptures are dry, we'll go with you." Chen Cheng asked again: "How is it that your lordships' scriptures and clothes have got wet?"
Sanzang said: "In former years the white turtle carried us across to the western bank; this year again it has carried us across to the eastern. When we were nearly ashore, it asked me about the matter I had been entrusted with in those days—to ask the Buddha its span of years. I had in truth never asked, and so it plunged into the water, and for that reason we are wet." Then he told the whole tale over again in detail.
Chen Cheng begged and entreated them so earnestly that Sanzang, unable to refuse, packed up the scriptures. But, as luck would have it, a few rolls of the Sutra of the Buddha's Original Practice had stuck fast to the rock, and when they were pulled away, the ends of the scrolls were torn. That is why, to this day, the Sutra of the Buddha's Original Practice is incomplete, and traces of writing may still be seen on the scripture-drying rock.
Sanzang said with remorse: "It was our carelessness—we did not watch over them!" The Pilgrim laughed: "It is not that! Not that at all! Heaven and Earth are not perfect; these scriptures were originally perfect, and now that they have been torn, it is but the mysterious working of the world's imperfection answering to its turn—how could human strength have anything to do with it?" And so master and disciples packed everything up and went with Chen Cheng to the village.
The people of the village spread the news one to ten, ten to a hundred, a hundred to a thousand; old and young alike, they all came out to welcome and see them. When Chen Qing heard of it, he set out an incense table before his gate to receive them and ordered drums and music to be struck up. Soon they arrived and were welcomed in; Chen Qing led out his whole family, young and old, to bow before them and thank them for the grace that had saved his daughter long ago. He then ordered tea to be served and a vegetarian feast laid out.
Since Sanzang had partaken of the Buddha's immortal fare, and had cast off his mortal frame to become a Buddha, he had no thought at all for the food of the mortal world. The two elders urged him with all their might, and at last, unable to refuse, he made a show of honoring their intent. The Great Sage Sun, who from of old never ate the food of cooked fires, likewise said: "Enough." The Sha Monk also ate very little, and Bajie was not as he had been before; he set down his bowl. The Pilgrim said: "So even the blockhead is not eating?" Bajie said: "I don't know how it is—my stomach and spleen have suddenly grown weak." And so the feast was cleared away, and they asked again about the quest for the scriptures.
Sanzang then told them in detail how he had first bathed in the Abbey of Jade Truth, cast off his mortal frame at the Cloud-Piercing Ferry, and reached the Thunderclap Monastery to pay homage to the Tathagata; how he had been honored with a banquet in the jeweled pavilion and the transmission of the scriptures in the treasure tower; how at first, because the two venerable ones had demanded a gift and received none, the wordless scriptures had been handed over; and how, when he had gone back to appeal to the Tathagata, he had at last received the scriptures to the full count of one canon. He told also of the white turtle's plunge and of the yin demons' secret attempt to seize the scriptures. Having set it all forth, he wished to take his leave.
How could the two elders and their whole families be willing to let them go? They said: "Long ago you rescued our children, a grace so deep we can never repay it. We have built a temple, called the Monastery of Saving Lives, and there we keep incense burning without cease in your honor." They also called out the children who had once been saved from the sacrifice, Chen Guanbao and Yichengjin, to kowtow their thanks, and invited them once more to visit the temple and see it.
Sanzang had the bundles of scriptures set up in the front hall of their house and recited for them a scroll of the Sutra of Precious Constancy. Later they went to the temple, where they found the Chen family had laid out another feast. Before they had even sat down, another company came to invite them; before they had lifted their chopsticks, yet another came—the invitations came in an endless stream, all vying to press food upon them. Sanzang did not dare refuse any of them, and made a show of partaking of each.
They saw that the temple was indeed built most handsomely:
The gate-tower's red and white plaster is fair— All owing to the benefactors' merit. Storied pavilions have risen here; Chambers along the two corridors have sprung up. Doors and screens of vermilion, Seven treasures exquisitely wrought. Fragrance drifts up to the Milky Way; Clear light fills the vast sky. A few young cypresses, still being watered; Several tall pines, not yet in clusters. Living waters greet them in front— the Heaven-Reaching River rolls wave upon wave; A high cliff leans behind— range upon range of mountains joins the veins of the earth.
When Sanzang had finished looking, they went up into the high tower, where images of the four travelers had indeed been molded and set up. When Bajie saw them, he tugged at the Pilgrim and said: "Elder Brother's likeness is very like." The Sha Monk said: "Second Brother, yours is very like as well—it's only that Master's is a bit too handsome." Sanzang said: "Very good! Very good!" Then they came down from the tower; in the front hall and rear corridors below there were still feasts spread and invitations awaiting.
The Pilgrim asked: "And what became of the temple of the Great King in former days?" The elders said: "That temple was torn down years ago. Since this one was built, your lordships, every year has brought ripe harvests and every season a full reaping—it is all the protection of your lordships' good fortune." The Pilgrim laughed: "That is Heaven's gift—what has it to do with us? But from now on, after we are gone, I guarantee to the people of this whole village: your sons and grandsons shall multiply, your six kinds of livestock shall thrive, and year after year the winds and rains shall come in season, season after season the rains and winds shall be timely." At this, all of them kowtowed and gave thanks.
Before and behind, still more households came offering fruit and vegetarian fare, families without number. Bajie laughed: "Oh, my luck! In those days when I could eat, no household invited us so much as ten times over; today, when I can't eat, one household is not done with us before another comes along." Yet for all his complaints, he stirred himself a little and got through another eight or nine plates of vegetarian dishes; and though his stomach was aching, he ate twenty or thirty steamed buns besides. When he was quite full, still more people came to invite them. Sanzang said: "What merit has your disciple, to be so overwhelmed with your kindness! I pray you will stop for this night; tomorrow morning we will accept your invitations."
By now it was deep in the night. Sanzang, guarding the true scriptures and daring not to leave them for a single moment, sat in meditation beneath the tower and watched over them. When the third watch drew near, Sanzang said softly: "Wukong, the people of this place know that our cultivation is accomplished and our task complete. Since ancient times it has been said: the true man does not show his true face; he who shows his true face is no true man. I fear that if we are kept lingering here, we shall miss the great matter."
The Pilgrim said: "Master speaks well. Let us take advantage of this deep night, when all are fast asleep, and slip quietly away." Bajie was aware of it too, the Sha Monk understood it perfectly, and even the white horse could follow their intent. So they rose, gently loaded the packs onto the horse's back, shouldered the carrying-pole, and led the horse out through the side corridor. When they reached the temple gate, they found it locked. The Pilgrim worked his unlocking magic, opened the inner gate and the great gate, and they found the road and set off eastward.
Suddenly from midair they heard the Eight Vajra Guardians call: "You runaways, follow me!" The elder felt the fragrant wind sweeping about them and rose into the air. Truly it was:
The elixir perfected, one knows one's original face; The body hale and serene, one bows before one's sovereign.
But we do not know how he was to appear before the King of Tang; listen to the next chapter to find out.